The second disc contains
the Second Symphony followed by the
Serenade for Strings and Salut
d’amour. Although there are a dozen
other versions of the Second Symphony
that are similarly characterised and
receive equally sympathetic performances,
this is still an impressive rendition.
To my mind, the climax of the second
movement is not quite overwhelming enough
and is eclipsed by Colin Davis’s live
performance with the LSO (LSO Live).
The rest of the symphony, however, is
sensitive, masterly, suitably intense
and most proficiently played. So, overall
the performances
ofbothsymphonies are
excellent, and certainlywill notdisappointElgarlovers.
The Serenade is elegantly played
but the second movement is a little
on the slow side. Slatkin's version
of Salut d’amour is utterly charming
and a most welcome conclusion to the
disc.

The third disc contains
the two earlier overtures, Froissart
and Cockaigne, as well as
the Enigma Variations.Froissart
was written in 1890 and was Elgar’s
only substantial work for full orchestra
until 1899, the year of the Enigma
Variations and Elgar’s subsequent
catapulting to national and international
recognition. This nine-year gap includes
some excellent choral and orchestral
works, written for the major music festivals
such as Leeds and Birmingham. Many theories
have been put forward as to why Elgar
did not tackle any other purely orchestral
work in this period. However, the fact
remains that Froissart, despite
its early gestation (although the composer
was 33 when it was written), does contain
some very characteristic Elgarian touches.
Some of these are brilliantly encapsulated
in this performance but unfortunately,
taken as a whole, it is not a particularly
inspired interpretation. Slatkin rarely
seems to get the tempo consistently
right and the result is a hotchpotch
of different sections which never seem
to come together as one overall conception.
Cockaigne is far more successful
and is an excellently characterised
performance. I have serious reservations
with Slatkin’s reading of the ensuing
Enigma Variations. It gets off
to a bad start, being much too slow
and lugubrious for my liking. Variation
II (H.D.S-P) is far too measured
and restrained. The performance doesn’t
truly come alive until Variation VII
(Troyte) with the timpani and
brass beautifully captured. Although
the pianopianissimo at the beginning
of Nimrod is conscientiously
observed, Elgar’s tempo markings are
not. With crotchet equalling 52, we
should get to the end of bar 17 at one
minute. Slatkin gets there in two minutes
exactly and the whole movement takes
5’ instead of 2’ 52" in Elgar’s
own performance. Can this be the slowest
Nimrod since Bernstein? The entire
performance comes across as far too
reserved and non-committed, and falls
far below, for example, the exquisite
1970 Boult recording, or Handley on
EMI, which I would recommend instead.

On the final disc we
have a coupling of the two string concertos
with accompaniment from the St. Louis
Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), rather than
the London Philharmonic as on the other
three discs. Pinchas Zukerman first
recorded the Elgar concerto in 1976
under Barenboim and this later RCA recording
was made in 1993. It is very uncommon
for a recording of an Elgar concerto
to have no participants from the United
Kingdom – one tends to find a foreign
conductor and soloist but with an English
orchestra. However, in this case the
SLSO under their then principal conductor
make a compelling contribution to this
disc. Zukerman, on the other hand, produces
a rather distant performance with little
insight into the ‘soul’ and character
of the music. His detachment is easily
illustrated if one follows the score
and takes note of Elgar’s meticulous
dynamic markings. Zukerman makes very
little distinction between ppp and
f in some passages. This is well
illustrated in the first movement where
there is the sudden diminuendo from
f to ppp two bars before
19. This diminuendo is barely observed
and unless these subtle nuances are
scrupulously followed, the music can
easily lose its passion and intensity,
ending up sounding simply ‘matter of
fact’. It should be remembered that
this score is prefaced by a quotation
in Spanish "aqui esta encerrada
el alma de ….". This quotation
is usually translated as "here
is enshrined the soul of…" However,
an equally good translation might be
"here is imprisoned the soul of
…" A point few commentators take
note of, I think the latter gives a
completely different slant to Elgar’s
intentions and seems to be the translation
favoured by Zukerman! The same observations
apply to the second and final movements
during which, although well played,
the performance as a whole never takes
flight as it should. There are many
other better performances than this
on disc. I would personally recommend
the – as far as I’m concerned – unrivalled
Sammons recording on Pearl above all
others (and similarly with the Delius
violin concerto, of which Sammons’ version
is simply unsurpassable) but realise
that historical recordings are not to
everyone’s taste. Otherwise, Kennedy
under either Rattle or Handley, or Menhuin
under Boult can be trusted to give outstanding
renditions, as would be expected.

Janos Starker is not
a well-known exponent of the Elgar cello
concerto but he gives us a measured,
straightforward, unsentimental approach
to the work. It is technically secure
but at times the sound seems rather
lean. He goes for rather conservative
tempi in the second movement and achieves
a stark nobility in the fourth movement.
The SLSO under Slatkin give an alert,
sympathetic and unobtrusive accompaniment.

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